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Vol. 7
No. 3
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER - LANARK, NORTH LEEDS & GRENVILLE
MARCH 2020
Council to host public meeting on future of Confederation Bridge Smiths Falls - Emilie Must editorial@pdgmedia.ca Confederation Bridge in Smiths Falls is a historical landmark, but it was closed in 2015 as the infrastructure was deemed unfit for vehicle traffic. The one-lane bridge connecting Beckwith Street with Centennial Park and the water tower was once a quick alternative to driving downtown and a pedestrian walkway frequently used along the Rideau Canal. Director of Public Works and Utilities Troy Dunlop presented a report with four options to fix the bridge at a special meeting of the town council’s Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, Mar. 2. The first option is building a brand new modern combined pedestrian and traffic bridge at the cost of $2.5 to $3 million. Option two is constructing a waterfront pedestrian bridge for $850,000 without traffic. The third option is to completely refurbish the existing bridge for $1.5 million or to clone the existing bridge by building a new identical one for $1.4 million. Smiths Falls Mayor Shawn Pankow’s first question to Director Dunlop was, “How do we pay for it?” “I think we’ve all got a sort of
nostalgic attachment to that bridge as it’s been around longer than our lifetimes,” Mayor Pankow said. “The last major rehabilitation was in 1996. It didn't receive the attention it needed over the decades. There were other priorities that always seemed to rise to the top.” In 2015, traffic studies were conducted and found that 1,100 cars typically travelled across Confederation Bridge per day. A road with around 3,000 cars travelling down it is considered a collector road. “At the network level it doesn't serve a critical network function; it serves a critical convenience function,” Director Dunlop said. “The more traffic we funnel onto Beckwith Street could raise more delays.” Having a pedestrian or vehicular bridge would help in the summer when the Abbott Street bridge is out to allow boats to pass through the canal, and as construction continues on Beckwith street, opening another route across town. “There is a left turn pocket turned to Confederation Drive,” Director Dunlop said. “There’s opportunities there, we have to be conscious. If we do bring traffic out on Beckwith Street, the sightline to go left doesn't exist (so) it would be right turn only.” “I’m not comfortable making a decision until we have a pub-
Confederation Bridge in Smiths Falls was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic in 2015. Council is inviting public input on the future of the bridge and will choose one of four options later this month. Photo credit: Emilie Must.
lic consultation on the bridge,” Councillor Niki Dwyer said. “I’m glad everyone acknowledges the historical significance of the bridge. It’s inevitable we’re going to be losing a piece of the heritage because eventually it’s going to need a full replacement.” Harold Kleywegt, owner of Keystone Bridge Management told council that his staff “Strongly favoured maintaining the appearance of the existing bridge” while also “keeping the
existing configuration.” “I don't want to raise expectations here today that sometime in the next year we’re going to have a new bridge,” Councillor Peter McKenna said. “This is a multi-million dollar project and without funding. I don't see a path in the next one to two years when we have the water tower and other infrastructure problems.” Keystone Bridges collected paint samples from the bridge in
the summer of 2019 and tested them for lead. This led to the discovery that each sample had lead levels higher than environmental standards. Council will vote at the March 16 meeting whether to pass a motion to host a public meeting on the future of Confederation Bridge. Councillor Wendy Alford noted that public input will also be encouraged via the “Speak Up Smiths Falls” page on the town website.
Blueberry Creek Forest School gets kids outside Perth - Sally Smith editorial@pdgmedia.ca
Robyn Mulcahy sits with a basket of textiles she tempts students with for sewing projects. Photo credit: Sally Smith.
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At Robyn Mulcahy’s small log cabin, there’s a lot of chatter and chewing at the noisy lunch table; just in the next room, however, in the quietness and brightness of wide, old windows, a young boy sits quietly, immersed in a book. They’re all at school, not the familiar grey box-of-a-school around the corner or down the street, but forest school, a threeyear old program Mulcahy has nurtured and grown to get kids outside and involved with the natural world around them. Of the six hours they’re there on any given day (fall, winter and spring), kids spend all day or a greater part of the day outdoors; there are paths to follow, trees to
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climb, forts to build, chickens to talk to, drawings to do, or just idle time to sit and daydream. Blueberry Creek Forest School and Nature Centre, just outside Perth off Hwy. 7, is one of about 100 in Canada, according to Mulcahy — most in Ontario and British Columbia. Her view is Canada’s lagging behind Sweden and Norway in forest schools but is beginning to catch up. There’s an effervescence about her when she talks about, and walks around, her school. “Children get to lead,” Mulcahy says. “It’s a no rules kind of school, a nature centre; kids eat when they’re hungry,” do what they want and direct their own learning during the day. “Just as much
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as kids are learners, so are we, the teachers,” Mulcahy explains. “The environment is considered the first teacher. We set the environment up to invite real learning opportunities.” For instance, she says, if [kids] want to build a solar oven, [teachers] put everything out and draw them in. “We ask ‘what is this?’ and let them go at it.” So in the bright rooms visitors will find everything from student-made quilts to circuit boards for computers; outside is a different environment — eight hens (lots of different heritage breeds), six rabbits (plus a wild black and white one that once was a pet but doesn’t want to come inside anymore), and one rooster, Mark. Students know how to collect
eggs, they eat eggs, they understand about food and when the “hens stop laying, they become pets,” Mulcahy grins. Forest school, she says, doesn’t replace regular school; children come once, maybe twice a week, or even only twice a month. The rest of the week they are homeschooled, go to private schools or attend public school. The day starts at 9 and goes to 3 p.m. five days a week with every day being different. “We don’t offer a curriculum. We offer outdoor education and arts, with kids doing everything from math, science, and geography, through history, writing, and cooking…and doing it their own way.” continues on page 3
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